Bill to prevent mentally ill from buying guns passes

Gov. Nikki Haley expected to sign "Ashley Hall" bill

South Carolina passes a law that expands background checks on gun sales.

Bill to prevent mentally ill from buying guns passes

Gov. Nikki Haley expected to sign "Ashley Hall" bill

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Updated: 10:13 PM EDT May 5, 2013

GREENVILLE, S.C. —

It's been called one of the most important pieces of legislation passed this year in our state. The "Ashley Hall" bill enables South Carolina to report who has been found by the courts to be mentally ill to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

The bill passed with significant bipartisan support from legislators and law enforcement authorities as well as the National Rifle Association.

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The legislation comes about two months after authorities said Alice Boland went to Ashley Hall school in Charleston with a loaded handgun. Officials said she pulled the trigger at administrators, teachers and students, but the gun didn't chamber.

In a news release, Attorney General Alan Wilson said Boland was able to purchase a firearm despite "numerous court-ordered mental health commitments."

Officials said under current law, Boland was able to pass a background check and buy the pistol even after pleading not guilty to threatening to kill President George W. Bush by reason of mental incompetence.

But, Gov. Nikki Haley's signature on the Ashley Hall bill would mean mental health adjudications and commitments will now be reported to federal authorities.

Local gun dealers support the legislation.

"The federal government and the medical profession are finally working together," Jim Braziel said.

"That just gives us something else to show we're doing everything we can and that guns aren't going into people's hands that shouldn't have them," Braziel continued.

Recently, the National Alliance on Mental Illness released a statement about guns, mental illness, and violence. NAMI advocates, "...Solutions to gun violence associated with mental illness lie in improving access to treatment not in erecting barriers to further treatment..."